Charles Harper immediately became excited and said seriously, “Of course, Miss Bennett, people can change. As a woman, she is his future wife. A virtuous woman should not abandon him; instead, she should gradually influence him, using her own greatness and radiant maternal nature to tolerate and care for him. How could she possibly ignore him, or even break off the engagement? I believe that as long as the woman slowly gives her true feelings and gradually influences him, her future husband will eventually come to his senses and become a pillar of the nation.”

Charles Harper spoke so passionately that he completely immersed himself in the role, his whole being filled with righteous indignation, almost clenching his fists to wave them.

From behind the screen, Miss Bennett spoke again: “But I heard that this future husband has even contracted syphilis…”

Charles Harper almost spat out a mouthful of blood. This was slander, blatant slander, an attack on his reputation. In his heart, Charles Harper cursed the whole family of the bastard who spread rumors about him having syphilis.

He took a deep breath, trying hard to calm himself, and said, “That’s just baseless talk. How could others know whether he has syphilis or not? Even if, for argument’s sake, he did have it, so what? Syphilis… that…”

“……” Charles Harper suddenly found himself at a loss for words. He couldn’t very well say, even if he had syphilis, life would still be beautiful.

Miss Bennett clearly did not agree with Charles Harper’s view and said, “What you say does make sense, sir, but how can a woman entrust her whole life to such a man?”

Sitting in the corner, April was already starting to feel restless.

Charles Harper said, “Well… does Miss think that if the two get married in the future, and after slowly influencing each other, they respect each other as guests and stay together for life, wouldn’t that be a good thing?”

At this, Miss Bennett seemed to purse her lips and said, “Not necessarily. Even if a man’s character isn’t so bad, even if he’s good, it doesn’t mean they’ll stay together forever… My mother…”

“Ahem, ahem…” April almost coughed her lungs out.

Miss Bennett realized she had misspoken and quickly said, “My mother heard of a couple who were once deeply in love, but as the woman grew old and lost her looks, her husband found a new lover. Even when he was busy with official duties, whenever he had free time, he would rather spend it in his concubine’s room. Is that what you call staying together for life?”

Charles Harper couldn’t help but secretly laugh. This woman was probably talking about her own mother. Miss Bennett seemed a bit ‘cynical’—perhaps her family had a big influence on her. Could it be that after her parents’ experience, she no longer believed in love? That won’t do. If you don’t believe in love, how am I supposed to get by? I’m still counting on you to elope with me.

On the side, April felt things were getting more and more improper, but in front of Miss Bennett, she didn’t dare act out, almost coughing herself into tuberculosis.

Charles Harper glanced at April out of the corner of his eye, then at Miss Bennett, and had a sudden thought.

The future mother-in-law’s preferences are crucial. If I can win her favor, half the battle is won. The mother of my future children—let’s see if I can win over the future mother-in-law first.

Charles Harper said calmly, “How about I tell another story?”

From behind the screen, Miss Bennett said, “Let’s hear it.”

Charles Harper’s tone suddenly changed: “Once upon a time, there was an emperor who originally favored only the empress. But later, as the empress grew old and lost her beauty, the emperor fell in love with a beauty. This beauty, serving in the bedchamber, inevitably spoke ill of the empress. From then on, the emperor became more and more distant from the empress…”

At this point, Miss Bennett behind the screen seemed momentarily speechless and said, “This isn’t a story at all, it’s clearly…” Realizing she had misspoken, she didn’t continue.

Charles Harper glanced sideways at April, who had stopped coughing and seemed to be listening intently to what Charles Harper would say next.

Gossip, gossip—nine out of ten women love gossip. Charles Harper sighed inwardly and said, “Let your teacher finish. The empress was on the verge of being ruined by the beauty, but at that moment, she came up with a plan. The beauty continued to slander the empress, but whenever the empress had the chance, she would praise the beauty, show her concern, and if the beauty fell ill, she would be so anxious she didn’t know what to do, shedding tears every day. Whenever the emperor thought of spending the night in the empress’s palace, the empress would always decline. Of course, the beauty knew the empress was up to no good and, with a heart of stone, continued to slander her. At first, the emperor didn’t care, but over the years, he grew more and more annoyed with the beauty. Human psychology is strange—when you like one thing about someone, you find everything about her lovable, but once you can’t accept one thing, you find her more and more annoying. Eventually, the emperor could no longer stand the beauty’s endless weeping and, in a fit of rage, banished her to the cold palace.”

Miss Bennett exclaimed, “Ah… I understand now…”

Charles Harper smiled slightly and said, “As long as you understand, Miss. That’s all for today’s lesson. I need to go back and read. Isn’t it a joy to study and practice what you’ve learned? Knowledge is accumulated day by day. Even at my level, I still need to accumulate bit by bit. Miss Bennett, farewell.”

Miss Bennett asked curiously, “May I ask what book you’ve been reading lately, sir?”

Charles Harper blushed. You just had to ask that! Fortunately, his composure held, and he replied confidently, “I don’t read any nonsense. Lately, I’ve been reading the Spring and Autumn Annals.”